Letters to the Editor

Unfair charter school laws threaten CUSD finances and Carlsbad quality of life

The Carlsbad Unified Parent and Community Budget Task Force, a grass-roots, parent-led organization formed to educate the Carlsbad community about the ongoing budget crisis facing Carlsbad Unified School District (CUSD), strongly believes that, because of the State’s charter school laws, which have an adverse financial affect on Basic Aid districts, the presence of a charter school within CUSD can negatively impact the high quality of K-12 education for which CUSD’s nine elementary, three middle and (soon) two high schools are widely known.

Lessening the quality of CUSD schools and threatening the corresponding academic achievements of its 11,000 students can have a detrimental effect on property values and the overall quality of life in Carlsbad.

We are not opposed to charter schools in principle or any charter in particular. But based on current State law, which we are lobbying Governor Brown to change, charters have a particularly negative financial effect on districts such as CUSD that are classified as Basic Aid districts, in which local property taxes equal or exceed a district’s revenue limit. In contrast, the State funds a Revenue Limit district on a per-pupil basis.

A charter school’s admissions can allow up to 50 percent of the student body to be from neighboring districts. It is not fiscally responsible for CUSD to pay for and educate these students. As a Basic Aid district, our monies should fund 100 percent of Carlsbad residents.

The County Office of Education is holding a public hearing March 18 re: an appeal of a denied petition for a charter in CUSD. My Task Force colleagues and I encourage Carlsbad taxpayers to get informed and involved at carlsbadunified.com.

Claudine Jones

Co-Chair, Carlsbad Unified Parent and Community Budget Task Force

Carlsbad

Fate of the Buena Vista Creek Valley

Help determine what the fate of the Buena Vista Creek Valley will be. Come take a mini-tour of the Buena Vista Creek Ecological Reserve March 16 from 10 to 11 a.m. at the west end of Haymar near College and state Route 78 (turn at Mossy Nissan go to end of Haymar Road.) Located behind Kohl’s/Walmart shopping center, the land in and near the reclaimed quarry is in Carlsbad and zoned for less than 300 homes but the developer wants 656. Carlsbad elementary schools near the site are full — leaving parents to drive during rush hour to other schools. Unacceptable traffic impacts to College Boulevard. Is all this profiteering really necessary? Contact Mayor Matt Hall and the Carlsbad City Council at (760) 434-2820 or email council@carlsbadca.gov and ask them to scale it back to 506 units, or better yet buy the entire parcel, ranked No. 1 citywide by Carlsbad’s own handpicked Open Space Committee.

If you live in Oceanside contact your city council at council@ci.oceanside.ca.us (or call (760) 435-3065) and ask them why they are asking for nothing but cash in exchange for a project that seriously impacts Oceanside traffic and lengthens your response times — since your fire and paramedics are the closest they will be providing emergency services for this monstrosity.